Vampire Street 2:Everlasting Stakes
by darkshadow229
Summary: Heather may be gone but the work of the vampires and the vigilantes are far from over. The hunters are trying to spare the angels and take down the devils. The hunted are plotting their next move for domination and in the shadows, a hidden and unlikely leader is controlling the show.
1. Chapter 1

Vampire Street 2: Everlasting Stakes

 **OK, finally, we have the sequel to Vampire Street! So this sequel takes place about a year after the last chapter.**

 **Benny: You mean we're now stuck with a moody adolescent, a boring teenage vampire and a wandering dumb blonde vampire? Oh joy, I'm gonna love seeing you screw this up. Then again, I don't think even you can mess with this.**

 **At least you're being optimistic this time around, Benny. It's good to see.**

 **Benny: Who said anything about optimism? I'm just saying that even you can't mess this one up.**

 **On to the story!**

* * *

In a small, cheap, two-star motel five miles east of Interstate 17, a young twelve year old girl got up and stretched in her hotel bed with a yawn. It was a humid but peaceful day in sunny Flagstaff and at the Jumping Buffalo Motel, she expected to find something that made it appealing that might make it stand out from any other crappy motel that she and her associate had been in over the past year.

Unfortunately, no such thing had occurred for her. The wallpaper was tacky and coming off, the bathroom was particularly small (even by her standards) and the sliding glass door to their small balcony would only close shut half of the time. The floor was clean but that wasn't saying much since it was a shaggy, dark purple carpet. The girl got out of bed and put on a pair of black slip-on slippers.

A seventeen-year-old boy walked into the room, rubbing his eyes. He had shoulder-length black hair and had medium skin.

He said "Morning, Linda. How did you sleep?"

Linda answered "Quietly for once. There was actually very little traffic last night so I didn't end up hearing anything much from outside apart from that noisy, little tabby jumping around and knocking over trash cans."

Justin replied "Why don't we share a room, Linda? Seriously, I hardly got any sleep. That's the third night in a row."

Linda rolled her eyes, crossed her arms and responded with "Do I have to spell it out? You're much older than me and on top of that, you're not my sibling, my boyfriend or even my friend. You're my partner in vigilance."

Justin protested as he stated "Hey, you're gonna be thirteen soon, you know."

Linda said "And you'll be eighteen soon, you moron. Which means if the cops find me with you, you'll be locked up in a jail cell and those rogue vamps would be able to take over the world. That, or I'd have to start over from square one and try to take them down all by myself."

Justin said "I'm a vampire human. We pretty much could live forever if we tried to."

Linda fiercely bit back with "Tried is the key word. Heather tried to do that and we killed her, remember?"

Justin looked down at the carpet with a furious glare as Linda sighed in remorse and regret. She knew that despite the fact that Justin wasn't Heather's biggest fan, he didn't want to hear a statement such as that. He simply needed some reassurance with a bit of a reality check, not a boulder dropped down on his head.

Linda responded with "Look, we may have gotten rid of Heather but there are still other vamps out there. Some are just ordinary mooks wanting to live their own lives and others are human-hating, blood-lusting psychopaths like Heather. We leave alone or try to help the former and finish off the latter. So just remember that, OK?"

Justin nodded and replied "You do know that if we stay in the area, you'll have to go to school?"

Linda groaned and asked "Are you joking? Can't you do anything?"

Justin answered "Do you want the cops and Social Services coming in here? I know we've only been in here for a week but I'm pretty sure even the guy at the desk is wondering why a couple of kids are running around Flagstaff instead of going off to Trig class."

Linda replied "Justin, we've been educating ourselves for a year now and it's been going pretty well. I'm not going to be stuck with a bunch of jerks, backstabbers and weirdoes. I had to deal with that enough in Newark and that was a high school. Middle school in northern Arizona? Does that sound like a nice situation, Justin?"

Justin answered "Middle school isn't always good for everyone, Linda but we have to do something. I've been checking the email and hopefully, a new contract will come up soon. But until then, we have to stay under the radar. That means you being in school."

Linda said "We being in school, Justin."

Justin raised his eyebrows as he responded with "What's that supposed to mean?"

Linda causally stated "If I have to stick my butt in a narrow seat with a bunch of irritating seventh graders, you have to get your face smashed in with a dodge ball by stuck-up twelfth graders."

Justin nodded and relented as he said "I can't argue with that. OK, I'll try to make some calls to the local schools."

Linda asked "Anyway, what's for breakfast?"

Justin answered "Whatever's left over at the restaurant downstairs. Chances are a bowl of cereal or some scrambled eggs, bacon and juice."

Linda responded with "Maybe I was expecting too much yet thanks to the Langham but I was expecting an amazing breakfast delivered straight to our room."

Justin laughed and said "Yeah, well, the River North it isn't. Come on, we'd better get going if we want to get anything" before he left the room.

Linda quickly followed him as her stomach began to growl for nutrients. On the other side of the country, in a large township outside of Trenton, Lindsay Hawkins was washing dishes in the kitchen of a small two-story house. She had been a vampire human for a year now and despite her creator having left for "lighter fields" as he called it, he still sent an unusually grand amount of money to her credit card account every month. At first, Lindsay had been wandering the streets of Newark after he left. She then ended up in a homeless women's shelter in Paterson and stayed there for a while until she received a letter from her creator with a set of house keys.

44 Brenwal Avenue in Ewing was hers but she allowed people- wanderers, loners, travelers- to stay there temporarily. It had two floors with her bedroom and two others on the first floor and two more on the second floor along with a bathroom on each floor and an office that is typically unused. At the moment, there were only two visitors in the home: Jal, a fourteen-year-old runaway who claimed to be sixteen and Arnold, a college dropout in his early twenties. Arnold had shoulder-length tawny-colored hair that he tied into dreadlocks and wore secondhand T-shirts and hoodies with drawstring sweatpants as he spent most of his days listening to electronic music, sketching and talking on his cell phone.

Jal was a slightly more interesting character. She arrived at the house one rainy and surprisingly chilly night in May asking for a place to stay. All she had was her backpack, the clothes on her back, a pair of headphones, a pair of gray Converse high tops and a pair of striped, fingerless gloves. Jal claimed to be sixteen when Lindsay asked her about her background and age. Lindsay suspected that Jal was younger than she claimed but she didn't push the issue. Jal mostly kept to herself and usually wore long-sleeved, baggy sweatshirts and hoodies which also aroused Lindsay's suspicion. Once again, however, Lindsay kept silent out of the fear of running Jal away from the residence.

Jal merely revealed that she was from Ohio one morning at breakfast when Lindsay had mentioned going on a trip to Cleveland. Apart from that, the teenage girl was virtually an enigma. She stayed up in her room most of the time, only coming down when she was either going out or for meals. Even then, there was only a fifty-fifty chance that Jal would eat dinner at the house. Sometimes, she would go to the 7-Eleven, the McDonalds or a local diner and pick up food there. Lindsay wondered about that young, troubling adolescent and what monster she was truly running from.

* * *

 **Alright, that's the end of chapter 1! The start of a new adventure!**

 **Benny: What adventure? Those two brats going to school and the blonde becoming the younger version of that lady from the Blind Side? That's not an adventure, that's a sitcom idea.**

 **It's a sitcom people would want to watch, Benny. Anyway, review and say what you need to say.**


	2. Chapter 2

Vampire Street 2: Everlasting Stakes chapter 2

 **So here, we have the second chapter of Everlasting Stakes!**

 **Benny: How's your procrastination hanging in there?**

 **Just fine, Benny, thank you very much.**

 **Benny: No, don't thank me. You're doing this chapter right now way later than you should have, you moron.**

 **Better late than never, right?**

 **Benny: *muttering* Better late than this piece of trash.**

 **Anyway, let's go on with the story!**

* * *

Linda sighed dejectedly as she stood near the entrance of Mount Elden Middle School. The neighborhood of Grandview Homes was more comfortable, relaxed and residential than their bustling, crummy motel in Nau but that wasn't saying much considering how the Jumping Buffalo was. Linda had considered going to another middle school but unfortunately, there were only three in the entire city. She and Justin removed Leupp as a potential selection due to the fact that everybody would already be forming cliques since they have known each other since kindergarten at the very least. While Sinagua was somewhat closer to the motel, it also wasn't of the best quality to Justin.

They both knew that they wouldn't be able to go to alternative schools without some kind of purpose, private schools were too expensive and the charter schools would be looking for admissions testing for both Justin and Linda. Therefore, Linda was to attend seventh grade for the time being at Mount Elden and Justin twelfth grade at Flagstaff High. Linda gritted her teeth as she checked her watch. It was 7:30 am and if Linda waited any longer, she might be late for first period.

She thought "No time like the present," as she walked into the building to the principal's office.

Across town, Justin had been standing outside of Flagstaff High School in a green hoodie, blue T-shirt and jeans. Justin scratched the back of his neck and checked his IPhone 6 for the time. It was 7: 39 am, slightly too early for him to go inside so he figured he would stand by the entrance and see if there was anyone suspicious. Just because he had to go to school didn't mean that he didn't have to be on the lookout for other vampire humans.

He noticed a slightly taller girl that was most likely a year younger than he was with chestnut brown hair, ocean blue eyes and a mole on her right cheek. She was wearing a blue T-shirt with a lightweight green and purple jacket and a mid-length black skirt. Justin felt an unusual aura emitting from the girl, like something was off but he couldn't place exactly what it was.

The girl noticed Justin looking at her and smiled slyly before she slowly walked over to him. Justin pretended to be looking at her legs as she followed her gaze.

She smiled again as she asked "I don't think I've seen you around here before. New boy?"

Justin nodded and answered "Today's my first day. I'm a senior."

She said "What's your name?"

Justin responded with "Justin."

The girl blinked and replied "Justin?"

Justin stated "Just Justin," as he tried to avoid the girl's curious, intrigued glance.

The girl chuckled, said "Nice to meet you, Just Justin. I'm Melody Goode. Or as my mom would say, Melody Feidelm Goode," and stuck out her hand for Justin to shake before she nervously reached back.

Justin raised his eyebrow and remarked "Melody Feidelm Goode?"

Melody said "Yeah, the middle name's Irish. My mom gave it to me since it was my great-grandmother's name. So where are you from, Just Justin?"

Justin answered "Newark. I needed a new change of pace so my folks ended up moving here."

Melody replied "What fun is there in New Jersey? The entire state is full of Jersey Shore wannabes and blue-collar tough guys. Anyway, I'm a junior. I was born in Pasadena but I've lived here almost my whole life."

Melody left out the part of having sharp teeth overnight and her strange, sudden hunger. For what, she didn't know but she wanted to quickly. If this weird new boy was the key, then she was going to push him into the lock as far as she could. For now, she was going to befriend him slowly, gain his trust and obtain his secrets.

Melody walked with Justin as they paced around the entrance and the courtyard. He didn't think anything negative about her but he was suspicious about her subconsciously. Perhaps it was merely a gut feeling but Justin had the feeling that there was more to it than that. He sought to keep an eye on Melody Goode.

The first bell rang and Justin headed inside, Melody straining to catch up with him. He had to get to the office to find out his schedule. Plus, he didn't want to be late on his first day. Sure, hunting down nefarious vampire humans was his primary goal but so was staying out of trouble. That meant being on time for all of his classes. Justin didn't mind having to do that. He had done it for seventeen years, after all.

Meanwhile, in Ewing, Lindsay had cooked a meal for herself, Arnold and Jal. She wasn't quite sure if Jal would have breakfast or perhaps escape off to McDonald's or the Starbucks in Lawrenceville. Jal hadn't missed a breakfast at the house so Lindsay was holding out hope this time. Arnold had come down in a yellow and brown striped sweater and gray sweatpants along with his teal beanie.

Lindsay had cooked a meal of buttermilk pancakes with sausage and bacon. She had set aside orange juice, tropical punch and milk on the table for everybody to drink.

She smiled and said "Good morning, Arnold."

Arnold yawned loudly and replied "Morning, Lindsey. Nice to see that there's breakfast," before he grabbed a plate and took two pancakes with two sausage links and three strips of bacon.

He poured milk into a tall glass, filling it three-fourths of the way before he sat down at the dining room table with his food and drink. Jal came slowly down the stairs, rubbing her eyes warily. She wore a purple, thick hoodie with a gray sweatshirt and black jeans. She glared at Arnold for a minute before she walked into the dining room.

Lindsey warmly said "Good morning, Jal."

Jal initially said nothing in response but then responded quietly "Good morning."

She took a plate and took a pancake with two sausage links and poured orange juice into half of a small glass before she sat down at the dining room table. Lindsey herself took two pancakes with two strips of bacon and as she poured maple syrup over her pancakes, she looked over at Jal's plate.

Lindsey asked "Are you OK, Jal?"

Jal muttered "I'm not hungry," before she quickly ate her food and went to put her dishes in the sink.

Arnold finished his glass of milk and looked at Lindsey.

He wiped his mouth and chin and said "Lindsey, I hope I'm not being too forward but do you want to go out sometime? Maybe to a restaurant or a movie or…bowling?"

Lindsey looked Arnold up and down. It had been a year since she ran away from her husband-to-be Jeffrey in Brighton. A year since she had been turned by her creator. Sure, she had a few relationships, if you could call them that, since then but they never lasted more than two weeks. People simply saw a cheap body instead of inner and outer beauty. Lindsey thought of it as more of their problem rather than hers. That being said, it wasn't that she didn't find Arnold attractive. He was in a rugged, bohemian sort of way. Rather, she wasn't exactly comfortable with being in a relationship right now. Perhaps when she managed to focus on herself, she would find the time to find somebody to love. But at that moment, she couldn't find a reason to say yes.

Lindsey looked away and answered "Sorry, Arnold, I'll be busy all week. I'm not also really into dating right now."

Arnold nodded and responded with "That's cool. But I have some friends who are going to Great Adventure in Jackson this weekend. Perhaps you and Jal want to come with us?"

Lindsey answered "I don't know about Jal but I'll think about it."

* * *

 **OK! That's a wrap for chapter 2!**

 **Benny: Too bad you can't bandage this thing up. I don't know how you managed to do this in one night.**

 **Determination and hard work, Benny, you know?**

 **Benny: Sure, that's what they all say until they're in a jumpsuit and handcuffs.**

 **Anyways, you could review and say what you liked or didn't about the chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

Vampire Street 2: Everlasting Stakes chapter 3

 **Sorry that this chapter took a while, guys. I've been pretty busy. Actually, on that note, it is early-mid January so I will be going through school again soon. So I will be even busier from this point onwards.**

 **Benny: That's code for "I'm gonna wimp out and use school as an excuse to not write."**

 **It's not an excuse. It's me trying to handle both this and school so that I could succeed in both.**

 **Benny: You couldn't even succeed at doing the first story right. How is this going to end up any different?**

 **Oh, trust me, Benny, this cat still has some old tricks. Now on with the chapter!**

* * *

Linda sighed as she had to sit through her first class. Whoever came up with surface area needed a swift punch to the kidneys in her opinion. Having to introduce herself, all awkward and nervous, to her classmates was bad enough but having to learn this junk that she would never need in the real world was torture. Even worse, the school apparently thought that she needed a tutor to catch up with everyone else.

She gritted her teeth as she looked around. Linda chose to sit in the middle of the classroom so she wouldn't attract attention by being in the front or the back. A girl named Stacey who "ended up getting these stupid braces over the summer" hadn't stopped trying to befriend her since she managed to sit down there. Linda had nothing to lose by refusing her olive branch but she figured it wouldn't hurt to have one person by her side for this journey.

Linda asked "Is there anything to do in Flagstaff?" to Stacey who was doodling on the edges of her notebook paper.

Stacey answered "Not a lot. There's some adventure course a few miles south and a bowling alley by Route 66 but other than that, there isn't very much."

Linda rolled her eyes and said "Great. So I'm going to be bored all day."

Stacey responded with "You can come over to my place if you want. My mom wants me to make friends so I'd have proof if I bring you."

Linda, trying to copy down what was on the board, shrugged and replied "Sure, I don't have anything better to do."

Stacey smiled, braces shining against the light and said "Cool. We can stop by my locker and go there after school."

Linda nodded as she turned back to the teacher and tried to pay attention to the class.

Justin, on the other hand, was enjoying himself at Flagstaff. He liked his Government and Politics class even though the teacher was a little boring at times. Melody wasn't in any of his class since she was a junior but she showed him around the school. Justin still kept an eye out for anyone who seemed different or anything suspicious or weird.

As he was walking down the hallway towards the cafeteria, he noticed a tall, lanky kid with spiky brown hair in a leather jacket and black jeans looking around as if he was paranoid. Justin went closer to the boy but not close enough that he'd be spotted. The boy paced back and forth for a couple minutes before he exhaled.

Justin was initially confused about this kid's actions. He seemed like he was preparing to do something but what exactly was it? Justin moved a little closer as the boy took out an IPhone 5s. He hoped that the boy wasn't trying to text someone but his nervousness turned to relief when the guy dialed a number and waited.

When the person on the other end picked up, the boy said "Yeah, Dave, it's me. Look, I know we haven't been getting along but I want to talk about the Scottsdale op with you."

The boy paused before he replied "It might seem pretty flimsy at first but I really think there's something weird going on down ther– what do you mean there's no evidence? We have plenty of evidence from Morgan Clelester. After all, he has that photo showing the fangs and that fridge full of B negative blood bags."

The boy paused again and snorted before he responded with "That's enough proof, Dave. I don't care what Gloria thinks. This means that they're there. No creative mind can fake those fangs."

The boy paused once again. Very loud laughter was heard on the other end.

The boy gritted his teeth in anger and said loudly "You know what, if you and the comedian Gloria think you can do better, then go ahead. I'd like to see how you two handle being on your own without an intel guy," before he hung up.

Justin raised an eyebrow and grinned at the information he was unknowingly given. Here was a kid who had info on some vampire humans and he didn't even have to ask. He memorized the name Morgan Clelester and the information the boy gave on Scottsdale. He would get Linda to look into this after school. Speaking of which, his own phone vibrated as he was sneaking away from the boy.

Justin checked his phone to see a call from Linda. He waited until he was far away enough from the boy to answer.

He said "Hey, Linda, what's up?"

Linda replied "It's only the second class of the day and I'm already bored out of my skull. Listen, I'm gonna head over to a friend's house after school so I'll get back to the motel late, OK?"

Justin remarked "Sure, surprised that you made friends on day 1. Then again, so did I so we both got lucky. Hey, have you heard of a Morgan Clelester?"

Justin heard the sound of a pen writing on paper before Linda responded with "Nope but I'll make sure to remember it. Why?"

Justin answered "I overheard some kid talking about vampire humans over in Scottsdale. He might be a potential ally but for now, I'm gonna try to funnel info from eavesdropping on him and we'll go from there."

Linda sighed and rolled her eyes before she replied "Just don't get caught if you're gonna go through with this stupid plan. The last thing I need is you blowing our cover wide open before our first week of school is done with."

Justin nodded and said "I've got it, Linda. See you tonight," before he hung up.

He headed off to the cafeteria for an early lunch, wondering if he would see Melody there. Justin knew that he couldn't spend all of his free time around her. But he was also the new kid and in high school, that didn't help anybody make friends easily. Justin went to get his lunch for the day.

In Ewing, Lindsay was trying to get Jai to talk to her. Jai was very quiet and sullen, even with Lindsay sometimes. Lindsay didn't notice her sneak back inside the house until Jai knocked over a vase by accident. Fortunately, it didn't break but Lindsay saw Jai and decided to try to speak with her.

Lindsay looked at Jai and asked "Are you going to turn around and talk to me or are you just going to stare at the lovely vase you nearly smashed?"

Jai avoided Lindsay's gaze, preferring to stare at the tiled floor and timidly answered "Y-you shouldn't have it sitting around wherever."

Lindsay crossed her arms and responded with "That vase isn't some forty-dollar vase that I picked up at Home Goods. That is an object that has been passed down in my family for generations. I don't know why you had so little regard for it that you nearly smashed it."

Jai stated "You're trying to keep me here so that we'll chat. Might as well admit it."

Lindsay sighed and said "Jai, whether you like it or not, running away from your problems doesn't make them go away. It just makes you find a different way to hide the pain."

Jai looked over at Lindsay and remarked "So just what the hell are you hiding from, Linds?"

For some reason, the question threw Lindsay for a spin. She simply wasn't expecting Jai to ask that of all things. But Lindsay didn't even know whether or not she was hiding from anything. Jeffrey? He probably found some barely legal, innocent girl to prey upon. Her creator? He didn't care about her enough to get rid of her.

Lindsay answered "Nothing. But while we're on the topic of hiding, you've been keeping quite a few secrets from me. For starters, I know that you're not sixteen. And don't give me that look, I can tell a person's age pretty well."

Jai gave a half-laugh and replied "Y-You're a goddamn hypocrite. You say I shouldn't hide secrets and yet you haven't said much about how old you are, where you're from, or where your family is. You say your door is open but I almost always find it locked."

The almost always locked door part didn't stun Lindsay. She wasn't quite subtle about having the door locked. The detail Jai kept on Lindsay avoiding speaking of her past or her life was a different matter. Lindsay almost froze before she remembered where she was and who she was talking to.

Lindsay commented "Very observant, Jai. Look, I want to be able to work with you and I can't do that if I'm up against a brick wall. So why don't we compromise here? For every secret or thing you tell me, I'll tell you one of my own."

Jai reluctantly nodded and picked at the sleeve of her hoodie. She took a deep breath.

She said "You were right when you said I wasn't sixteen. I-I turned fourteen in April. Just don't tell anyone, OK? As far as the state's concerned, I'm lost and I don't wanna be found by nobody."

Lindsay nodded and patted Jai's shoulder in an act of comfort. Jai didn't look at Lindsay or at anything other than the kitchen floor.

Lindsay replied "If that makes you feel more comfortable, Jai, then I won't. I'm going to keep up my end of the bargain. I'm not American. I was born in Somerset, England and raised in Brighton."

Jai said "B-but you sound normal, like you've lived here all your life."

Lindsay smiled and responded with "I just suppressed my accent but it does come out from time to time. Usually if I'm angry or very passionate about something. Or both."

Jai tried to say something but Lindsay shook her hand and said "One thing only, Jai. By the way, how do you feel about going to Great Adventure with Arnold and some of his friends?"

Jai scoffed and answered "I'd rather have a lobotomy and a heart transplant at the same time."

Lindsay sighed and remarked "Do you think it would do you some good to be around people?"

Jai answered "No. Especially not around that annoying hipster Arnold and his loser stoner friends. Will you be going?"

Lindsay replied "I haven't decided yet. But even if it is going with Arnold, don't you think you should go for yourself and not me?"

Jai picked at the sleeve of her hoodie again. There was a brief pause.

Jai sneered and answered "Fine, I might go. But if I do and he does anything stupid, I'm taking the first bus back here."

Lindsay said "Fair enough."

* * *

 **Another chapter down!**

 **Benny: Down is the right word. You've finally gotten off your lazy butt and finished this chapter?**

 **I think this is more than good, Benny.**

 **Benny: *narrows eyes* It took you four tries within five months to finish this thing.**

 **Well, I'm done with this chapter and I'm happy as heck about it.**


	4. Chapter 4

Vampire Street 2: Everlasting Stakes chapter 4

 **Hiya, folks. Sorry this didn't come out earlier.**

 **Benny: You always say that and yet it doesn't spark a fire in you, huh?**

 **Of course, it does. Hopefully, we'll have a few more chapters out by the end of the month. But, due to unforeseen circumstances, the story as a whole is gonna be much shorter than I expected it to be.**

 **Benny: That's code for "Due to school and me being a lazy dunce, the story length will be cut in half."**

 **Not in half, Benny and not because of school. There'll just be a few less chapters than I had planned at the beginning.**

 **Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

Justin leaned back in his chair and sighed with relief. His first day at Flagstaff High, as easy and tiring as it is, was almost over. He ate lunch on his own since he wanted to make his own path while they were in Arizona. He learned from talking to a few of the guys at his table that the kid in the black jacket was named Zeke, an outcast that transferred from Summit the previous year.

He looked at the clock and saw that there was ten minutes remaining in the class. He tried to avoid stretching since it would draw attention to him and instead looked at the board.

Justin waited for the teacher to ask him a question. Instead, Mr. Forley chose a tall girl sitting in the second row to answer his question on the morality of the two main characters in chapter 7. She answered it nervously but correctly.

Mr. Forley looked at the clock and said, "Ok, guys, read up to the end of chapter 8 tonight. There'll be a short quiz on it tomorrow and then we'll start our mini-project."

The students nodded in reply and a few started talking among themselves. Justin sat straight and tried to look relaxed. The bell rang and the kids started getting their things ready quickly.

Justin was about to join them when Mr. Forley said, "Justin, can you stay for a moment?"

He nodded in response, put his book into his backpack, and headed over to Mr. Forley's desk. Justin stood in front of it as Mr. Forley glanced at him.

Mr. Forley asked "Justin, I've seen from your transcript that you took Junior A.P. English at your old school in New Jersey."

Justin answered "Yes, sir. I got an A-plus both semesters."

Mr. Forley replied "I was a little curious on how such a talented student would turn down the challenge of doing Senior A.P. English."

Justin responded with "Junior A.P. English was a great class but I thought I would want a regular English class where I'd be engaged in modern works. I took an Honors English class my sophomore year and it kind of felt that way."

Mr. Forley said "Well, things should be pretty simple in here for you. You can start handing in homework on Friday with everyone else."

Justin nodded in response and left. He was a little nervous at first but now he was relaxed. After all, nothing was going wrong and he had a good handle on everything for now. He wondered how Linda was doing with her new friend.

Linda was leaving her last class when Stacey walked up beside her. She made a small smile at Stacey as the two began talking. Linda began to think about other things. She thought about this Morgan Clelester and how they were going to find any vampire humans in Flagstaff. Maybe she and Justin would've been better off staying in New Jersey, after all.

Linda gave it a second thought and shook her head without Stacey noticing. There was nothing left for either of them there. Justin's dad had abandoned his family years ago, his mom ignored him, and Linda's dad and mom didn't need her complicated life choices. She didn't really have any friends left at Lenpart Secondary, especially after the merger. Even with Heather being gone, she still had to adjust to being in a new grade around kids her own age.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Stacey saying "I like your shoes."

She looked down at her slightly worn navy Conserves and shrugged.

Linda replied "They're OK. I bought them at a thrift shop in Newark."

Stacey's eyes went wide and bright as she responded with "Wow, that must've been really cool."

Linda frowned, looked at Stacey and said "Nope, it was just like any other place except for the hipster feel."

Stacey replied "Still sounds better than being stuck at my aunt's house in Tempe."

Linda shrugged and took her backpack off while waiting for Stacey's mom to drive up to the corner in her car.

Linda asked "When is your mom coming to pick us up?"

Stacey looked at her phone and answered "She texted that she was up the street a couple minutes ago."

Linda nodded in response and looked up the street at the few cars still lingering on the road. She noticed a firetruck red Jeep Wrangler pull over to the curb. Stacey looked at the driver of the car and waved as Linda put her backpack back on.

Linda said "That's your mom?"

Stacey answered "Yeah. She can be really pushy sometimes but she's OK."

Linda walked over with Stacey and got into the back seat of the Wrangler, putting her backpack on the seat next to her.

She put her seat belt on and said "Thanks for picking us up, Ms. Dunegan."

Ms. Dunegan lightly chuckled and responded with "My mother was called Ms. Dungean, Linda. Call me Marge."

Linda smiled slightly and stated "OK, Marge."

Stacey rolled her eyes and responded, "Mom, you can't get all of the friends I make to call you Marge. It's embarrassing and weird."

Marge ignored Stacey and turned to Linda, saying "Stacey told me you're from New Jersey, Linda. Why did your family decide to move here?"

Stacey looked at Linda curiously. Linda looked down at her hands and tried to come up with a realistic, suitable answer.

Linda answered "My dad decided that change would be a good thing. He got offered a job at a retail store and moved me and my brother here. We're staying at the Jumping Buffalo Motel south of I-40."

Marge said "I think I've heard of that motel. It's near NAU, right?"

Linda nodded in response as Marge kept driving. Thirty minutes later, they pulled over by a house in a suburban neighborhood. Linda got out of the car with her backpack and Stacey followed.

Linda commented "This is a nice house, Marge."

Marge smiled and responded with "Thank you, Linda. I bought it for cheap when Stacey was a toddler. She still thinks it's too much room for the four of us."

Stacey looked at Linda and said "You're lucky you have an older brother. My younger sister is always trying to act like me and take over my room."

Linda hid a smile and commented "I'd rather have a younger sibling any day. My big brother's always making fun of me."

Marge said "I think that's what all siblings do," before she took out the house key and opened the door.

* * *

 **And looks like I'll have to cut it off here. Sorry, guys, but if I covered everything I originally wanted to in this chapter, it'd never get published.**

 **Benny: So you admit you're lazy.**

 **No, I'm just admitting that I didn't keep track of time and let word length get away from me.**

 **Benny: Sure, blame it on Word instead of your procrastination. *rolls eyes***

 **See you all next chapter!**


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